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The bill was accordingly referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and, after various plans were submitted, and the opinions of leading officers of our navy obtained, said committee unanimously recommended its adoption. On your suggestion that it would be well to have the opinions of other officers of the army on the subject, the bill was, on motion of Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and I now have the honor to submit herewith to your consideration letters I have received from General Joseph E. Johnston, General S. Cooper, Lieutenant-General Ewell, Lieutenant-General Longstreet's Inspector-General; Major- Generals Fitz Lee, Rosser and Lomax, of cavalry; Brigadier-Generals Pendleton and Long, of artillery; Colonel Crutchfield, Stonewall Jackson's chief of artillery; Major-General Heth, Major-General Smith, Governor of Virginia; and Major-General Smith, Superintendent of Virginia Military Institute; Captain W. N. Barker, acting chief of Signal Bureau, and Captain Wilbourn, of Signal Corps; Brigadier-General Wharton, Colonel J. S. Mosby, and many other distinguished officers of the army, all approving this design, which, with such letters as have been addressed to you on the subject, will furnish your committee with the desired information. Allow me, General, to add a few words on the merits of the proposed alteration.--Under the present act of Congress, the proportions of the flag are incorrect, the length being double the width; which is against all rule, and a flag so made will not float. The one now used over the capitol is not according to law; but it is correctly proportioned, having the width two- thirds of the length. So that the proportions, at least, will have to be changed, and while under amendment, it is proposed to improve the field of the flag also. It has been ascertained by practical use in the army and navy that our flag is very easily soiled from its excessive whiteness, and it is especially liable to this objection on steam vessels, which are rapidly superseding all other ships of war. The portion of the flag proposed to be changed to a red bar is the part, too, most readily defaced. It is strongly urged by naval officers of high standing that our flag is liable to be mistaken for a flag of truce, particularly in a calm, when it hangs dead against the mast, and the union is obscured by the white bunting.--When seen at a distance, flags are generally displayed against the white clouds beyond, and hence want of distinctness is a great defect in the present flag, the union being the only portion seen. Besides these capital objections to it, the flag is so tame looking that it excites no emotion in the hearts of our people, and looks more like a white table-cloth, with a colored patch in one corner, than the ensign of a great nation, such as ours is destined to be. Consequently we have not become attached to it as we should have done by this time had the colors been more striking. It was hurriedly adopted, at the very close of a session of the last Congress, as the best they could do under the multiplicity of plans submitted, and when the contest really was whether the battle-flag should form part of it. See accompanying letter from Colonel A. R. Boteler, Chairman of the Committee on Flag and Sea', of last Congress, in favor of this amendment. I respectfully submit that the bill before the Senate removes all the objections urged against the Confederate flag. It gives it correctness of proportion, distinctness and character; renders it fit for practical use, and presents a beautiful standard, which, under no circumstances, can be mistaken for a flag of truce or the flag of any other nation on earth. It relieves the flag of its pale-faced appearance, and makes it look more martial. The battle-flag, selected by General Johnston, and recommended by himself and General Beauregard, and under which so much blood has been spilled in our struggle for independence, is fully displayed as the union in the proposed flag, which can only be done by surrounding it with white, and the red bar, forming the outer half of the field from the union, is suggested as the best design for its improvement. I am opposed to all stripes, many or few, red or blue; for, besides the resemblance, they would make our flag answer to the common description of the now degraded badge of the basest of tyrannies-- "the Stars and Stripes."

The colors of the new flag would be chiefly white and red, with as little as possible of the Yankee blue. The heraldic significance of these colors is deemed especially appropriate for the Confederate States--the white (argent) being emblematic of purity and innocence, and the red (gules) of fortitude and courage. In the adoption of ensigns by the principal nations of the world, it is noticed by Captain Hamilton, in his History of the United States Flag, that they generally imitate the ensigns of the nations from which they sprung. This rule is complied with in the flag, as proposed, for our people are chiefly descended from the British and French, and we get the union and the cross of St. Andrew from the former, and the red bar from the flag of the latter nation, while the idea of having stars to represent the States respectively is taken from the flag of the old Union, mainly founded by our fore-fathers. The new flag is easily made, and is without the complication of any painting, which, besides the difficulty of correct execution, soon rots the bunting. The proportions, while most pleasing to the eye, possess the virtue of simplicity — the white below and on side of the union being same width as the red bar. They have been approved by some of the bests artists in the Confederacy, and, after careful examination, have been pronounced correct by some of the most experienced officers of the navy.--such as Commodore Forrest, Captain S. S. Lee, Captain Mason and Captain W. H. Parker, the latter being at the head of the Confederate StatesNaval Academy. Your committee has been furnished, by the Quartermaster-General, with a model flag, made in strict accordance therewith. It may be proper to add, that this improvement of the flag is advocated by almost the entire Richmond press. I hope it will be the pleasure of your committee to recommend the passage of the bill, and that it will be adopted by Congress in time for the signature of the President — who has expressed his approval of it — on the 22d of February, 1865, in order that it may become a law on the anniversary of the birthday of the great Virginian who was the father of his country and the chief author of his country's flag, and the anniversary of the day which gave birth to the permanent Government of the Confederate States.

I am, General, most respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
Art. L. Rogers,
Major C. S. Artillery.
Richmond Daily Dispatch, February 8, 1865